Keyboard Shortcuts

Main screen (connected)

Key	Action
Tab / Shift+Tab	Cycle tabs (Tools → Resources → Prompts → Events)
← / →	Previous / next tab (switches panes in the Events detail view)
↑ / ↓ or k / j	Move within the list
PgUp / PgDn	Page through the list
Home / End	Jump to first / last item
1–9	Quick-select an item by number
Enter	Select / activate the item
Ctrl+↑ / Ctrl+↓	Scroll the tool description panel
r	Refresh the current tab; in an open resource viewer, re-read the resource
s	Watch / stop watching the selected resource (Resources tab; rows show [watching], then [updated])
R	Open the roots editor
T	Open the tasks screen
A	Re-authenticate (clear cached OAuth state)
d	Disconnect and return to the connection screen
e	Show schema-error details for the selected tool (Tools tab)
b / Alt+←	Back (closes the Events detail view when open)
Ctrl+E	Export the session recording (.json trace + .sh replay script)
Ctrl+L / Ctrl+D / F12	Open the debug screen
q / Esc / Ctrl+C	Quit

When a resource or prompt viewer is open, q / Esc closes the viewer first.

Tool screen

Key	Action
Tab / ↓, Shift+Tab / ↑	Move between fields and buttons
Enter	Execute (in a field, the raw JSON editor, or on the Execute button)
Ctrl+T	Toggle task mode: Execute calls the tool as an MCP task and follows it
Ctrl+O	Toggle sending arguments that break the input schema: by default such a call is refused; while on ([schema violations sent] in the title) it is sent, the violation is shown under the title, and the copied CLI command carries --skip-arg-validation
Ctrl+N	On a nullable field: send null (again to go back to the typed value)
Ctrl+E	On an object field with declared properties: open it as a sub-form, or close it back to a JSON literal. On an array of such objects: open it as a list of elements (one to start), each an object sub-form, or close it back to a JSON literal
Ctrl+A	On an array of objects open as a list, or in one of its elements: add an element at the end (on a closed one: open it). Elsewhere the text input’s own Ctrl+A (line start)
Ctrl+X	In an element of an array of objects: remove that element; the rest are numbered again
c	Show and copy the equivalent CLI command (POSIX shell syntax; each word single-quoted as needed); again to hide it. The command heads the result column on a terminal 120 columns or wider, else sits under the buttons, and its heading says where the copy went: the system clipboard, the terminal clipboard (OSC 52), or neither. Server arguments are written one --arg each. Raw JSON arguments are written as one key:=<json> per top-level key; JSON the CLI cannot take (not an object, or a key other than letters, digits, _ and -) gives a # line naming the problem instead of a command
PgUp / PgDn	Page through the result, from anywhere on the screen
Shift+↑ / Shift+↓, Ctrl+↑ / Ctrl+↓	Scroll the result one line
Ctrl+Home / Ctrl+End	Jump to the result’s top or bottom; Home / End do the same off a text input
Ctrl+C	Copy the result (without a result: back)
v	Pick one of the result’s fields to copy (off a text input): ↑/↓, PgUp/PgDn, Home/End select, Enter/c/y copy, v/Esc return
Ctrl+L / Ctrl+D / F12	Open the debug screen, from a field too (there Ctrl+D does not delete forward; Delete does)
Esc	Back, also while a call runs (the call is not cancelled)
b / Alt+←	Back (off a text input)

Tasks screen

Key	Action
↑ / ↓ or k / j	Move within the list
Enter	Open the task’s detail; in the detail, fetch its result (waits while it runs)
w	Fetch the result (detail)
c	Cancel the task
r	Refresh from the server
Esc / q	Back to the list, or close

Main screen (disconnected)

Key	Action
r	Retry the connection
b / e	Back to the connection screen to edit details
Ctrl+L / Ctrl+D / F12	Open the debug screen
q / Esc / Ctrl+C	Quit

Connection screen

Key	Action
Tab	Switch between Saved / Discovery / Manual modes
C	Toggle combined-command input
1–9	Quick-select a saved / discovered entry
Enter	Connect

Debug screen

Key	Action
Tab / →	Next debug tab
Shift+Tab / ←	Previous debug tab
↑ / ↓ or k / j	Move in the list; on the Statistics and Capabilities tabs and in a detail view, scroll the text
PgUp / PgDn	Page up / down
Home / g	Jump to top
End / G	Jump to bottom
r	Refresh
Enter	Open the selected message’s JSON (MCP Protocol tab) or exchange’s headers (HTTP Debug tab)
c	Copy selected item (copies capabilities JSON on the Capabilities tab; clears logs on the Statistics tab)
y	Copy selected item / capabilities JSON
Ctrl+E	Export the session recording (.json trace + .sh replay script)
Esc	Back one level: from a detail view to the list, from the list to the screen the debug screen was opened from. It never quits mcp-tui
b / Alt+←	Same as Esc; Enter also closes a detail view
Ctrl+C / Ctrl+D / Ctrl+L / F12	Close the debug overlay, from the detail too

Notifications tab

Key	Action
Space / p	Pause / resume the notification stream
1–8	Toggle a single notification-type filter (8 = task status)
0	Clear all type filters
+ / =	Raise the level threshold
- / _	Lower the level threshold
x	Clear the notification buffer